Method of and apparatus for treating felt articles



June 1,1926. y 1,586,551

H. A. GENEST METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING FELT ARTICLES FiledMarch 26, 1924- s sheets-sheet 2 O @AD June -1, 1926.

H. A. GENEST I METHOD 0F AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING FELT ARTICLES FiledMarch 26, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 fsm/MM a. n

Patented June l, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOMER A. GENEST, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED 'STATESHAT MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OFVIRGINIA.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATIN G FELT ARTICLES.

Application led March 26, 1924. Serial No. 701,997.

This invention relates to the shrinking of felt articles, for examplebats from which fur or felt hats are made.

The aim of the invention is to provide an improved method and apparatusby means of which h-at bats and the like may be shrunk and felted insuch manner that superior articles are produced more economically thanheretofore. More specific objects of the present invention will bepointed out 1n detail in the following description.

. The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elein any stage of the shrinking or felting ments andarrangement of parts which will be exemplih'ed in the constructionhereinafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will beindicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I have shown, for illustrativepurposes, one embodimentwhich the machine of the present invention maytake, and which machine is particularly adapted for use in carrying outmy improved method of shrinkmfr:

Ifigure 1 is a view showing, my improved machine;

Fig. V2 is a side elevation with portions broken awav:

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal Section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. l;and

Fig. 4 is a view showing, in section, a bat passing between a pair ofopposed rollers.

My improved apparatus, together with the method involved in its use, maybe employed operation. It is, however, particularly adapted for use inthe second or final sizing operation because it treats the bats withthat degree of severity which, owing to the fact that the fur or felt ofthe bats has already been felted to a considera-ble extent, isnecessary. 'Ihe machine may, of course, be constructed so as to give thebats a more or less severe treatment as desired. It is clear that thepresent disclosure is by way o f illustration only, it being evidentthat the machine is susceptible of various modifications and changeswhich would be within the spirit of the invention without departing fromthe scope of the following claims. It is also understood thatfwhile Ihave here in topI plan,

`than two, series of rollers shown a specific machine for carrying outmy improved method, the method is not limited to this particularmachine.

In the illustrative showing of the drawings, the machine is providedwith a plu` rality of rollers between which the bats are passed in anunrolled and saturated condition, and the construction and arrangementof these rollers are such as to thoroughly manipulate and work allportions of the bats as they pass therethrough in such manner as torapidly work the fibres into close interlocking relation withoutbreaking or injuring the libres. In the present instance, the machine isshown as being provided with two series of rollers, each seriescomprisng two sets or rows of rollers positioned one above the other.The bats are adapted to pass between the' rollers of the first series inone direction and then between the rollers of the other series in theopposite direction to the forward en d of the machine. It is, of course,understood that but one, or more can be employed, as preferred. As therollers of the two series are similar in construction and arrangement, adescription of the upper series and the application of the referencenumerals to that series will be suilicient for a clear understanding ofthe construction and oper-ation of the machine.

The lower row of the rollers of each series', and which rollers serve tosupport the bats as they are passed through the machine. are designatedby the letterA, and the rollers which bear upon the bats are designatedby the letter B. The rollers of the two rows are, in the presentinstance, opposedto each other as will be seen most clearly from Fig.3'. Each roller has on its surface means for shifting,in a direction atright angles to that in which the bat is advanced through themachinethat portion of the ply of the .bat which the particular roller`engage?.`

These shifting means are so arranged that the opposed rollers tend toshift the two plies of the bat therebetween in opposite directions, andthe adjacent rollers of eachrow are constructed to-shift the portions ofthe same ply of the bat which they engage in directions opposite to eachother. More specifically, each of the rollers, in the *presunder in onedirection,

cnt illustrative disclosure of the invention, is provided with a spiralrib or thread of relatively coarse pitch. The threads on the adjacentrollers of the same row run in opposite directions, for instance, thealternate rollers will have right hand threads or ribs and theintervening rollers will have left hand threads or ribs. The threads onthe opposed rollers run in the same direction, that is to say, if thesupporting roller had a right hand thread, then the roller B opposed tothat supporting roller will have a right hand thread. The ribs orthreads of the rollers are designated by the numeral 10 and the threadgroove by the numeral 11. Each of the rollers is supported for rotationbut is held against lengthwise or axial movement. Certain of the rollersare urged under pressure towards the opposed rollers in order to shiftthe plies relative to one another, and in the direction in which theyare advanced, in a succession of small increments, as hereinafterdescribed more in detail. In the present instance, those rollers whichare urge'd under pressure against the opposed rollers are arranged instaggered relation, that is to say every other roller of the uplper setor row is urged downwardly by springs, and the intervening rollers ofthe lower set or row are urged upwardly by springs or in any otherdesired manner. The remaining rollers are mounted in stationarybearings, and these other rollers are positively driven in a directionto advance the bats through the machine. The pressure rollers are notdriven, except through their frictional engagement with the bats. Forconvenience, the pressure rollers of the upper set are designated by theletter B, and those of the lower set by the letter A.

It will be seen from the construction so far described that, as the batis fed through the machine, the thread or rib on the upper roller of thefirst pair will shift that portion of the upper ply of the bat passingthereand the thread on the opposed lower roller will shift the lower plyof the bat in the opposite direction. The next upper roller will shiftthe upper ply in the direction opposite to that in which it is shiftedby the first upper roller, and the second supporting roller will shiftthe lower ply in the direction opposite to that which this lower ply isbeing shifted by the first supporting roller and 1n the directionopposite to that which the second upper roller is shifting the upperply. That is to say, the upper rollers alternately shift the upper plyin opposite directions and the lower rollers also shift the lower ly inopposite directions, and thc opposed) portions of the two plies aresinxultaneously shifted in opposite directions. Thus it will be seenthat each ply is zig-zagged back and forth or is Snaked, so to speak, inthe plane ofthe plies and in the direction in which the bats areadvanced, and the snaking or Zig-Zagging of the upper ply is in thereverse orderl to that of the lowerply. Owing to the grooves in therollers, the felt is hunched or ribbed, so to speak, into these grooves,thus forming waves 12 in the plies which are inclined, first in onedirection and then in the other direction, and these waves extendgenerally in the direction in which the bats are passed between therollers. Furthermore, owing to the fact that certain of the rollers arenot positively driven and are adapted to move towards and away from theopposed rollers, there is formed in each of the plies a succession oftransversely extending waves or ripples which are advanced through theplies in the direction in which the bat is moved through the machine,and thus each of the plies is progressively shifted in a succession ofincrements relative to the other` ply. This results because cach timethe bat is brought into engagement with a pressure roller the movementof that portion of the bat which engages this roller is somewhatretarded so that immediately behind this roller a wave or ripple is madein the bat, and this wave is advanced as the bat moves forwardly. Morespecifically, the first pressure roller B will form a transverse wave orripple 13 in the upper ply; the second supporting roller, which is thefirst pressure roller of that row, forms a wave or ripple 14 in thelower ply; the third roller of the upper set, which is the secondpressure roller of that set, will form a wave or ripple 15 in the upperply, and so on, a wave being formed first in one ply and then in theother ply, and these waves being progressed in that order from theforward edge of the bat to the rear edge. Furthermore, it will be notedthat, since the grooves in the rollers form ribs or waves l2 extendinglongitudinally of the bat, the transverse waves are more or lessdistorted, with the result that the bats immediately in advance of thepressure rollers will be given a peculiar action which greatlyfacilitates thc felling and shrinking operation.

It will thus be seen that, as the bats pass through the machine, the twoplies are pulled, pushed and manipulated in such manner that at one andthe same time some portions of the bats are being shifted in onedirection and other portions in the opposite direction, and the opposedportions of the llO two plies are shifted simultaneously in oppo- Irollers.

being that the fibres are given such a sinuous, tortuous action thatthey are worked into each other very rapidly and thus the bats areproperly felted and brought down to the desired size. It will further beseen that, as the bat passes through the machine, 1t has applied to itin regular succession pressure, and this pressure is progressedthroughout the bat from one edge to theother.y

During the felting and shrinking operation, the bats arel maintained ina moistened or saturated condition in any suitable manner but, in thedrawings, there is shown, for this purpose, a plurality of pipes 17arranged above the rollers and adapted to discharge sprays of-water ontothe bats. It is, of course, understood that the rollers which have beendescribed may be supported in any suitable frame and driven in anydesired manner. In the drawings, I have shown the frame of the machineas comprising two side frames, each formed in sections (for instance,three sections 20, 2l and 22) 'in order to facilitate the mounting ofthe bearing boxes .23 in which engage the ends of the pressure rollers Aand B. bearing boxes are mounted in suitable bores 24 and behind eachbearing box is a spring 25, the compression of which may be regulated byscrews 26. The stationarily mounted rollers of the lower series have ontheir left hand ends, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, sprockets 28 driven bya chain 29 passing about a large sprocket 30 fixed to a driven shaft 3l.'At the .opposite or right hand end of the machine, the stationarilymounted rollers of the upper series are provided with sprockets 32driven by a chain 33 in the same manner as does the chain 29 drive thesprockets 28. The chain 33 passes about a large sprocket 34 fixed on ashaft 35 which is driven through 'gears 3G from the shaft 31. 3Tdesignates tapes at the forward end of the upper series of rollers forthe purpose of feeding the bats into the'machine. 38 are tapes whichreceive the bats as they are delivered from the lower series of 39 areguides for directing the bats from the upper series of rollers to thelower one. After a bat has passed through the machine, it may be takenfrom the delivery tapes 38 and again placed on the receiving tapes 37 soas to be again fed into the machine.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from th'e scope thereof, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the followingclaims is in- The ,formlng in one ply of tended to cover all ciefeatures of the invention herein described and all statements of thescope of the invention which, as ar matter of language, might be said tofall therebetween.

claim as my invention 1. The herein described method of treat-- ing hatbats and the like, which consists' in advancing the bat by a pluralityof rollers having spiral ribs running in opposite directions.

2. 'lhe herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in simultaneously and progressively shifting spaced portions ofeach ply in opposite directions and simultaneously shifting abuttingportions of the two plies in opposite directions.

3. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in progressively and successively applying pressure to the batand simultaneously zigzagging each of the plies in the plane thereof andin the direction in which the pressure is progressed.

4. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in passing the bat Hatwise in dition between a plurality ofmembers and causing said members to simultaneously shift spaced portionsof each ply of the hat in opposite directions and abutting 1iortions ofthe two plies in opposite directions.

5. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in passing the bat between a plurality of opposed rollersprovided with threads on their peripheries, and rotating said rollers tocause spaced portions' of each ply of the bat to be shiftedsimultaneously in opposite directions and abutting portions of the twoplies in opposite directions.

he herein described method oftreating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in the bat zigzag waves and advancing said waves in thedirection of their lengths.

7. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like,` whichconsists in progressive y and successively applying pressure to the bat,forming in at least one ply of the bat zigzag waves spaced aparttransversely of the direc-tion in which the pressure is progressed, andadvancingthe waves through the. said ply in the direction of theirlengths.

8. The herein described method of treat-v ing hat bats and the like,which consists in progressive"y and` successively applying pressure tothe bat and advancingthrough each ply of the bat zigzag waves spacedapart transversely of the direction in which the pressure is advanced,the waves in one ply being reversed to those of the other ply.

9. The herein described method of treatof the generic and spean unrolledconllt.

' pressure yae ing hat bats and the like, which consists inprogressively and successively applying to the bat, simultaneouslymoving spaced portions of one ply of the bat in opposite directions in agiven plane, forming in said ply zigzag waves spaced apart transverselyin the vdirection in which the pressure is advanced, and advancing saidzigzag waves in the direction ot' their length.

10. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in snaking each of the plies in the planes thereof andadvancing in each of the plies sinuous waves generally in the directionof the lengths of the Waves. r i 1l. The herein described method oftreating hat bats and the like, which consists in progressivey andsuccessively applying pressure to the bat, simultaneously moving spacedportions and alternately moving the same portion ot each ply of the batin opposite dlrections, and advancing, zigzag waves lengthwise in eachof the plies, the waves ot' one ply being reverse to those ot' the other12. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in snaking each ply ot' the bat generally in the planes thereofand at intervals humping portions of the plies out of their planes.

13. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in simultaneously and progressively moving spaced portions of aply of a bat in opposite directions and progressively shifting the plyrelative to theother one in a direction transverse to that in which saidply is moved back and forth.

14. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in progressivey and successively applying pressure to the bat,simultaneously moving spaced portions, and alternately moving the saineportion, of one of the plies in opposite directions and in the plane ofthe ply, forming zigzag waves in said ply and advancing the Waves in thedirection of their length, and shifting said plies relative to oneanother in successive increments in the direction of said zigzag Waves.

15. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in zigzagging each ply of the bat in the planes thereof andprogressively shifting each ply of the bat relative to the other one inthe general direction in which said plies are zigv zagged.

16. The herein described method ot treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in simultaneously moving spacedportions and alternately movingthe same portion of each of the plies in opposite directions andadvancing through each of the plies a succession ot transverselyextending ripples.

17. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in snaking each ply of the bat, advancing in each of the pliessinuous waves in the direction of the lengths, and progressivelyshifting the plies in lthe'direction inl which said waves are advanced.

18. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in progressivey and successively applying pressure to the bat,simultaneously moving spaced portions and alternately moving the sameportions of each ot' the plies in opposite directions in the plane`otthe plies, advancing through each of the plies Waves eX- tendinggenerally in the direction in which pressure is advanced, and inadvancing transversely extending ripples in both of the plies in thedirection in which the pressure is advanced.

19. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, whichconsists in advancing the bat in an unrolled condition between two rowsof rollers having spiral threads on their peripheries with the threadsot' adjacent rollers running in opposite directions and the. threads ot'opposed rollers running in the same direction, and causing some of therollers to rotate at less peripheral speed than that at which the bat isadvanced to create asuccession of Waves in each of the plies and advancethe same throughout the bat.

20. The herein described method of treating hat bats andthe like, Whichconsists in advancing the bat by a plurality of rollers having spiralribs running in opposite directions, and maintaining the bat insaturated condition.

21. The herein described method of treating hat bats and the like, which.consists in simultaneously and progressively shitting spaced portionsof each ply in opposite directions and simultaneously shitting abuttingportions of the two plies in opposite directions and maintaining thebatA in saturated condition.

22.-'.Ihe herein described method of treat-v ing hat bats and the like,which consists in progressively and successively applying pressure tothe bat and advancing through each ply of the bat zigzag Waves spaced`apart transversely of the direction in which the pressure is advanced,the waves in one ply being reversed to those of the other ply, andmaintaining the bat in saturated condition.

ing hatbats and the like, which consists in advancing the bat in anunrolled condition beneath a series of rollers having spiral threads ontheir peripheries and with the threads of adjacent rollers running inopposite directions.

24. In a machine for shrinking hat bats and the like, means forprogressively and successively applying pressure to the bat,

ico

23. The herein described method of treatmeans for simultaneously movingspaced portions of the. plies of the bat back and forth in the plane ofthe plies and in opposite directions and transversely to the directionin which the pressure is advanced.

25'. In a machine for shrinking hat bats and the like, a plurality ofmembers between which the bats are passed in an unrolled and latwisecondition, and means on said members for simultaneously shifting spacedportions of each ply of the bat in opposite directions and abuttingportions of the two 'plies in opposite directions.

26. In a machine for shrinking hat bats and the like, a plurality ofrollers between which the bats are adapted to be passed in iatwisecondition, means on said rollers for simultaneously shifting spacedportions and alternately shifting the same portions of each of the pliesin-opposite directions and shifting abutting portions of the two pliesin opposite` directions, and means for rotating the opposed rollers inopposite directions.

' 27. In a machine for shrinking hat bats and the like, a plurality ofrollers between which the bats are passed in unrolled condition,adjaoent rollers to each side of the bat having threads on theirperipheries running in opposite directions, the threads on opposedkrollers running in the same direct1on, and means for rotating theopposed rollers in opposite directions.

28. In a machine4 for shrinking hat bats and the like, meansforadvancing the bat, and means for forming zigzag waves in each ply of thebat in the direction in which the bat is advanced.

29. In a machine for shrinking hat bats and the like, a plurality ofrollers between which the bats are passed in atwise condition, and meanson said rollers for formthe lies extending in the direction in lwhichthe ats are advanced.

` 30. In a machine for shrinking hat' bats and the like, means forsimultaneously moving spaced portions and alternately moving the sameportions of each of the plies in and advancing zigzag waves in each oflopposite ldirections and-for forming in each o the plies zigzag waves.

31. In a machine-for shrinkinghat bats and the like, a plurality ofrollers between which the bats are passed in fiatwise condition, saidrollers being provided on their peripheries with means forsimultaneously shifting spaced portions andalternately shifting the sameportions of each of the plies in opposite directions and for formingzigzag waves in each of the plies at right angles to the length of therollers, and means for rotating said rollers.

' 32. In a machine for shrinking hat bats and the like, a -plurality ofrollersbetween which the bats are adapted to be passed in flatwisecondition, means on said rollers for simultaneously shifting spacedportions and alternately shifting the same portions of each of the pliesin opposite directions and shifting abutting portions of the two pliesin'opposite directions, and means for rotat- Ling t e opposed rollers inopposite directions, some of said rollers being urged, un-

der pressure, towards the opposed rollers.`

33. In a machine for shrinking hat bats and the like, a plurality ofrollers between which the bats are passed in unrolled condition,adjacent rollers to each side of the bat having threads on theirperipheries running in opposite directions, the threads on opposed rolerslrunning in the same direction, means for rotating the opposedrollers in opposite directions, and means for urging some of saidrollers of each set under pressure towards the opposed rollers, saidpressure rollers being adapted to rotate at less peripheral speed thanthe driven rollers.

34. In a machine for shrinkin hat bats andthe like, means for supportmga bat, and a pluralit of rollers adapted to engage a bat in unrolledcondition on said supportingmeans, said rollers having means for forminl bat an extending in the direction in which the bat is advanced.

HOMER A. GENEST.

